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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26849464">bodies of dust, illuminated</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marenke/pseuds/Marenke'>Marenke</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>whumptober 2020 [24]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Deathless - Catherynne M. Valente</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Drabble, During Canon, F/M, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 16:28:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>165</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26849464</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marenke/pseuds/Marenke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the dark basement of Marya Morevna's house, there is nothing other than the slow counting of breaths to let Koschei know time was passing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Koschei the Deathless/Marya Morevna (Deathless)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>whumptober 2020 [24]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931353</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>bodies of dust, illuminated</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>whumptober day 24, prompt: sensory deprivation!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the dark basement of Marya Morevna's house, there is nothing other than the slow counting of breaths to let Koschei know time was passing, that the minutes slid by until Marya was with him again. His eyes never adjusted fully to the darkness: there always was a small sliver of light that passed by the floorboards, so he never knew the layout of the basement.</p>
<p>Every day, he'd hope - faint, stupidly, as if he was still a child, still in the world's infancy, still unaware of the troubles he would have in the future - that day would be the day she'd take him back. Every night, after she was done with him, Koschei would bite his tongue to not ask why.</p>
<p>And with every afternoon spent in the dark, Koschei would let his heart die a little bit more, hearing the steps of Marya above him, purposefully leaving him alone just to break him just a bit more, until his will was totally hers.</p>
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